Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jun 2003 Source: Johnson City Press (TN) Copyright: 2003 Johnson City Press and Associated Press Contact: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1983 Author: Steven Lusk MAKE IT ALL LEGAL EDITOR: I see where Canada wants to legalize marijuana, or rather, decriminalize it. This strikes me as a real good idea. By legalizing drugs, we remove that crime from the books and we can focus on other societal problems. Of course, if legalizing drugs reduces the crime rate, then maybe we should consider taking it a few steps further. We could start by legalizing murder, robbery and rape. Not only would this drastically reduce the crime rate, we could use it to assist in balancing the state budget. For example, if you want to kill your neighbor, you could stop by the county courthouse and pick up a murder license for, say, two hundred bucks. The license would specify the means, say shooting, and you get a set number of shots to down that sucker. If you miss, you're out of luck and have to go back and get another license. Of course, in the meantime, your neighbor may go and get a license to do you in. We could do the same thing with theft - sell a license for a particular house or business, and it would give you set time and date to perform your services. Yep, by legalizing things, society will get so much kinder and gentler, and just think, we can get rid of some of the excess population, clean out the jails and create some really great new career opportunities. STEVEN LUSK Johnson City - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake